Spain hopes more online gambling sites will grow the country’s market.
Spanish gambling regulators will offer an unspecified number of licenses to offer online slots and betting products within the ‘dot-es’ market.
Applications will be open to operators currently holding licenses from the Directorate General for the Regulation of Gambling license, as well as new operators.
While analysts don’t expect much movement for online poker, the new licenses are hoped to increase online slot play. About 12 new operators are expected to apply for licenses, with nearly all applying for slots play.
As for online poker, surveys show that nearly half of the country’s online players use illegal offshore sites. According to the latest figures released by the DGOJ for the second quarter of 2014, gaming revenues fell by 6 percent compared to the same quarter of 2013, while the total number of online poker players fell by 5 percent.
